Date: January 18, 2024
To: Members of the American Economic Association
From: Peter L. Rousseau, Secretary-Treasurer
Subject: Reporting Lockbox – Now Available to Members

In November, the AEA announced expanded resources for members including a new independent Ombuds Team available through the third-party provider MWI. Today the AEA is pleased to announce the launch of the “Reporting Lockbox,” also provided by MWI, but apart and separate from the Ombuds Team and service. 

The Reporting Lockbox enables AEA members who are not yet ready to file a formal complaint to log circumstances or conduct by other members that may violate the AEA’s policy against harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. If two or more AEA members log alleged incidents of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation perpetrated by the same person by making entries in this digital archive and indicating a willingness to communicate with other alleged victims, each member who logged an incident will be contacted separately to determine if each would consider communicating with the other members, or to otherwise keep the submission active or withdraw it. A mutual decision to contact the other members who logged an incident about the same alleged perpetrator could lead to their filing a formal complaint with the AEA Ethics Committee or pursuing other options outside of the AEA.

The AEA will not have access to the Reporting Lockbox, and therefore will not know the identities of members or persons of interest unless action is taken by the members through the filing of a formal complaint to the AEA. Users of the Lockbox can edit or remove entries at any time.

For more information and to access the Reporting Lockbox, visit https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/reporting-lockbox. Reporting Members must agree to the Terms of Use before logging an incident. The Privacy Policy can be found here. The AEA leadership hopes you will find this a valuable tool in our common efforts to improve the climate of the economics profession.  If you have any questions about accessing this new service, please contact lockbox@mwi.org.

For information on the expanded ombuds program, visit https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/aea-ombuds.